The Islet Cell Core is designed to assist a group of 19 Center Investigators to study unresolved problems of islet cell physiology and pathology. For that purpose the technical staff of the Core guided and closely supervised by the Core director, Dr. Franz Matschinsky, will provide the following services: a) rat and mouse islet isolation b) islet culture c) islet perfusion and functional testing d) perfusion of fetal and adult pancreas minces e) perfusion of the isolated mouse and rat pancreas f) training in a-e g) islet fluorescence imaging and Ca2+ and NAD(P)H h) providing alpha-TC, beta-TC, beta-HC, INS-1, MIN cell seed and batch cultures i) preparing pseudo islets in bulk using islet cell lines j) performing transient gene transfections of cells and islets. The Core will serve as a hub of an extensive network of collaborators in Islet Cell Biology and has the goal to foster research in this area.